Surely eating more calories for exercise doesn't work?

katheharwood

I see, so in theory i only need to do the exercise if i want to be able to eat more?

my current limit is 1200 and something, if i was to burn 250 a day and not eat an extra 250, would that be ok?

If your current limit is 1200 and you burn 250 without eating them, you are left with 950, which is far too low (unhealthy). 1200 calories (net) is the MINIMUM that most women should consume. Going lower than that, you are messing with danger.

And yes, in theory - being able to eat more is definitely one reason to exercise (it's one of my favorites!) But here are lots of other reasons, as another poster has mentioned.

-General cardiovascular health
-Building muscle
-Increasing endurance
-Improving mood
-Sleeping better

etc.

I strongly agree with BerryH and LoreleiWalks...for overall health, exercise is important. I've lost 18 lbs in 2 and half months by following the exercise, healthy eating, AND eating your exercise calories. I sleep better, have more energy, and I have clearer skin, and I have lots of fun sharing these new habits with my hubby.

Lolli1986

so the answer is yes? Why bother doing the exercise then , if im just going to put the calories burnt, back into my system? (That is my point from the start!)

There are lots of reasons to do exercise that are not involved in weight loss.

Decreasing risk of heart disease is one thing that comes to mind. Decreased risk of injury (so long as you aren't going pro-athlete).

You are right, eating back what you burn results in no extra loss.

I find that I am happiest eating about 1500 cals a day, but not a lot more. If i want to lose 1 pound a week, i need a 500cal deficit each day. This means I need to eat 500 less than maintenance, which is 1300. I'm not happy at this amount, so I eat a 300 cal deficit and burn the other 200. I am not going to eat these back as it is part of my 500 cal deficit. However, if I burn 500 cals, I will eat back at least 200 of those so that I remain over 1200 cals.

That was confusing, I know, and the way MFP is set up does not easily allow for a plan like this. Once I am fully well, however, I will eat 1800 and burn 500. To do this, my goal will be set to 1300, it will add 500 on for exercise, and I will eat it. This way I am still at my deficit.

gosh my brain is still too mushy from being sick for even simply maths.

deadstarsunburn

I would do some searching in the forums there are loads of helpful posts that will answer all your questions and help clear things up for you. =]

Helloitsdan

Surely putting enough fuel in the car to drive 400 miles doesnt work!

stormieweather

Calories are measurements of energy. Your body uses energy to function. Growing hair, brain activity, heart, intestines, skin replenishment, talking, walking, sitting upright, it ALL uses energy (calories). TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the total calories needed by your body to maintain your current weight at your current lifestyle level. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less than your TDEE, so your body will utilize the stores of fat (and unfortunately sometimes, muscle, if you don't use them and you don't eat adequate nutrition).

MFP takes your stated goal (lose 1 pound or lose 2 pounds per week, for example) and deducts the required calories from your TDEE estimate. 3500 calories = 1 pound, more or less. So to lose 1 pound per week, MFP reduces your calories by 500 per day. But under no circumstances will MFP set your goal at less than 1200 as that is commonly considered to be the threshhold for nutritional deficiency (for a female).

If you go out and exercise MORE, you are burning more calories and if you don't eat them back, you may be eating too litlle, which is potentially unsustainable and unnecessarily difficult. Additionally, if you reach your goal by undereating, it is possible that once you start eating normally again, you'll put the weight back on. And no one wants that, right? So the point is to do this slowly and healthily, so we can do it for as long as we need to, without giving up or binging or harming our metabolism.

Hope this helps.

rozmary

thank you.

heybales

oh dear, i made the mistake of thinking that exercise uses up fat, (therefore it'll decrease). am i now right in believing it uses up energy/calories to burn the fat?

If you exercise at about the lowest level, 50% of the energy used will be fat, 50% will be carbs. Ratio of carb usage goes up from there until anaerobic (sprints, weight lifting) where 100% is carbs.

With 3500 calories in lb of fat - you got energy to spare there obviously.

With 1500-2000 stored calories of carbs, you are limited if you keep not replenishing them day by day, because your diet was so restrictive.
Once they run out, muscle must be torn down to make glucose.
Worse than that, the liver with 400-450 cals of carbs is used up first, and it is the only supply for blood sugar the brain needs. If blood sugar runs low, muscle breakdown occurs. Even if there is more glucose in the muscles.

So you exercise 1 hr. Very light, so 50% is carb supplied. 500 cal total, 250 of that carbs.

On eating ONLY 1200 cal diet with 50% carbs, do you supply 250 calories worth of carbs, sure, 600 cal. But this doesn't even take into account ALL other activity ranging form 30-50% carb usage too. Your BMR is getting 30% carb usage, so 360 cal of carb there. Just went over 600 cal worth of carb in a diet, and never each touched rest of the day.

hesn92

exercise is not a waste of time... it makes you healthy. It is good for your heart and your body, it builds muscles, it is a mood regulator, it helps you sleep, it increases your libido.. etc.

CoryIda

<--- Surely eating more calories for exercise worked for this girl.





A caloric deficit helps you lose weight.
Exercise helps lower blood pressure, improve circulation, improve overall heart health, and a million other things.

taso42

Kind of the opposite. If you work out but don't properly fuel up, it's as if the workout was a waste of time and effort.

sleepytexan

Yes it does. And stop calling me Shirley.

heybales

Kind of the opposite. If you work out but don't properly fuel up, it's as if the workout was a waste of time and effort.

Oooohhhh, nice.

If you don't feed/fuel the workout, it will end up being a waste of time and effort.

Even the most un-exercised folks have heard the idea about resting the day after doing heavy weight lifting, so the idea is there in many people's minds you need a recovery.
It's the application when you start exercising.

alxdeanda

I basically had the same question..
It's because your muscles need to recover. If you eat about your limit daily, and you work out, clearly you're burning a couple/few hundred off, but you want to reach your limit (calorie intake), so drink a protein shake after your work out, and/or some grilled chicken with a string cheese or something.

& may I add, it's not JUST for muscle recovery. It helps speed up your metabolism, as well as gives your body the proper nutrients it needs to continue to lean and/or build muscle more efficiently.

sweetaj

ETA: And don't call me Shirley.

:laugh: :laugh:

Helloitsdan

I eat +20% TDEE on weight lifting days and -20% on rest days.

mandacloye

Actually if you don't "eat your excercise calories" your body begins to "eat" the healthy muscle. There is a whole science on this issue you can research for yourself online or in a library. But eating as this site tells you is based on the healthiest and SAFEST way to do it. You aren't "just replacing what you burned off", you are giving your body what it needs to keeps going. I wish I was better able to convey this for you, but your best bet is to research, research, research for yourself. That way YOU know the answers and can perhpas help someone else in their quest for knowledge.
Hope this helped.

tigersword

MFP has a deficit already "built into it" when you start. So you could still lose weight even if you did nothing but stay under your calorie goal. I eat my exercise calories and still lose weight.....in fact I exercise so I can eat more lol.

Yep. This.

Why would an app be so popular and have so many people succeed, eating their exercise calories, if it didn't work?

i know it works, it has worked for me for the last 3 weeks, but now my ankle is better (tore a ligament), i can exercise, but do i need to 'eat back the calories' as many other posts and sources say that you should?

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

so the answer is yes? Why bother doing the exercise then , if im just going to put the calories burnt, back into my system? (That is my point from the start!)

Because exercise has NOTHING to do with burning calories or weight loss. Exercise happens to burn calories. So does everything else you do. Exercise is about getting fit and being healthy, not about burning calories. The amount of calories you burn exercising is irrelevant to weight loss.

This website leaves exercise out of your calorie goal, so that you can exercise as much or as little as you want. You eat the calories you burn exercising, just like you eat the calories you require to work all day (ghat's why it asks for your activity level, to tell you how many calories you need to eat for a typical day.)

heybales

I eat +20% TDEE on weight lifting days and -20% on rest days.

Now the +20%, is that like starting right after the workout for the next 24 hrs, all the meals are larger?
I guess if you workout first thing in the morning (what are you doing up so late!) that works easily.

But my night time ones I'd have to fiddle with that a bit.
But good idea, I feel the urge to eat more after a heavy lifting session.

hymana3366

The exercising allows you to eat more - if you ate and didn't exercise you'd gain. I rather exercise and eat more than not exercise and eat less cause I am always hungry except when I am exercising - understand?

misskerouac

Exercise is NEVER NEVER NEVER a waste of time. It has many benefits, not just losing weight.

Mompanda4

Bu